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CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Friday, October 24, 2014

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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FOOTBALL

AD: Ticket prices will drop nearly 40 percent In partnership with CSG, football ticket packages to be $175 for 2015 season By GREG GARNO and ALEJANDRO ZÚÑIGA Managing Sports Editors

The Michigan football team has a much stronger home schedule next season than it does this fall. And it’ll cost students a lot less to see the Wolverines play. The Athletic Department, in conjunction with the Central Student Government, announced Thursday it will lower student season ticket prices to $175 for next year’s sevengame home slate. At an average of $25 per game, the price decrease is a 37.5-percent change from this year’s cost of $280 for the season. “We listen,” Athletic Director Dave Brandon told The Michigan Daily Thursday afternoon. “We’ve been listening. … We really learned that two really important components to re-engaging with our students in trying to create a more robust, more enthusiastic

and larger student section for next year’s football season was price and strength of schedule. “A nearly 40-percent reduction in ticket prices is, I think it’s fair to say, unprecedented.” The new plan, which incorporated feedback from a CSG-conducted survey of University students, will also implement a new reducedpricing structure for students with financial need. The Athletic Department will charge a $10 processing fee for student-ticket purchases, down from $15 in 2013, and a custom T-shirt comes included in the package. The department also announced that season ticket prices will remain the same for non-students for the third consecutive year. “It’s been great working together,” said CSG President Bobby Dishell, a Public Policy senior, in an interview with the Daily. “We realized that the University takes need into account when you’re coming here, so your experiences here should also take that into account.” Dishell announced his partnership with the Athletic Department to reduce ticket prices at a meeting of the University’s Board of See FOOTBALL, Page 3

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Michigan coach John Beilein speaks to a crowd of students at the Maize Night Madness rally on the Diag Thursday night.

Students, athletes rally on Diag before MSU game Student performers and speakers aim to pump up football fans By NEALA BERKOWSKI Daily Staff Reporter

As performances, motivational speeches, slam poetry and chants filled the brisk Thursday night, a few hundred students gathered on the Diag for Maize Night Madness, an event geared toward increasing

school spirit and morale before the Michigan football team faces Michigan State this weekend in East Lansing. LSA senior John Borger, who helped organize the event along with the campus group Beat OSU, said the pep rally was designed to highlight the hard work of University students and what the school has to offer, including the work of athletes and student groups. “Whether it’s on a football field or in the classroom or in a research lab or on the stage, all these performers are doing incredible things,” Borger said.

ELECTION 2014

“We’re not the number one public institution because of the football team. We’re not the number one public institution because of any one team, or any one classroom. It’s the whole University.” Maize Night Madness included performances from several dance groups and appearances by the football, field hockey and men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as two student poets and a variety of other groups. LSA freshman Helen Joa said she attended the event after she heard about it online and from

ANN ARBOR

Updated law widens scope of protections

Bernstein speaks with students at Union forum

Additions to nondiscrimination ordinance expand inclusivity

College Democrats host event for state Supreme Court candidate

By GENEVIEVE HUMMER

By NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT

For the Daily

Metro Detroit attorney Richard Bernstein, a University alum, returned to his alma mater Thursday evening to speak and field questions from a short panel hosted by the University’s chapter of the College Democrats. Bernstein is currently a Democratic candidate for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court. He was born legally blind, and, referencing his campaign slogan of “Blind Justice,” said his campaign is founded upon fairness. “It is time for our courts to become blind. Blind to partisan politics, blind to special interests, blind to political ideology,” he said. “Fairness is really the key to justice.” Bernstein is an attorney for the Detroit-area Sam Bernstein Law Firm, where he founded and runs the firm’s Public Services Division. He previously served on the Wayne State University Board of Governors, and his brother, Mark, currently serves on the University’s Board of Regents. In 2007, Richard Bernstein See BERNSTEIN, Page 3

WEATHER TOMORROW

posters around campus. “There was a lot of hype surrounding it so I wanted to see what it was all about,” Joa said. “I really liked all the different groups that performed the dances. I thought that was really cool. I didn’t know about some of the clubs that are here so it was cool to get to learn more about them.” Borger said the rally was held Thursday to celebrate the upcoming football game against Michigan State and to kick off the basketball and hockey seasons. Organizers hosted a See MADNESS, Page 3

HI: 65 LO: 48

VICKI LIU/Daily

Slam poet Sonya Renee performs pieces exploring racism, body shaming and identity at 1 in 3’s Abortion Speakout at the Michigan Union Thursday.

Women share their stories at Abortion Speak Out Closed forum creates safe space to exchange personal experiences By AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR Daily Staff Reporter

Developing an inclusive and supportive space for those who have had one or more abortions in their lifetime isn’t easy. But, on Thursday evening, the Abortion Speak Out did just that. The “1 in 3” Abortion Speak Out gave University students, faculty and staff the opportunity to share their personal

experiences with reproductive choices. In its second year, the gender-inclusive event allowed any speaker to either share his or her story directly or have it read anonymously during the hour. “We need a space that isn’t about shame,” said award-winning slam poet Sonya Renee as she introduced a series of performances that would transform the Michigan Union’s Pendleton Room into this venue. Renee, founder of the “The Body Is Not An Apology” movement, began the evening by relaying reproductive justice messages through spoken word and poetry. She said the goal was to create a space of “joy and acceptance for people who will

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come and share this evening.” “This is less about a show than it is about a truth-telling session, which is ritual, which is ceremony in my community,” Renee added. To maintain respect in the room throughout the event, members of Students for Choice recited rules for the audience to follow once the event began: Only those who have had an abortion were allowed to speak, and speakers were advised to avoid making generalizations about abortion. All stories were also to be kept confidential. Social work volunteers were available after the event to speak to attendees. One by one, people walked See ABORTION, Page 3

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INDEX

With a new revision to Ann Arbor’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance, the City Council is aiming to extend legal protections to a broader spectrum of the city’s residents. The Council approved a revamped ordinance Monday that includes provisions for gender expression and identity, survivors of domestic violence, political beliefs, genetic information, arrest record and familial status. Councilmember Christopher Taylor (D–Ward 3) applauded the city’s Human Rights Commission for their commitment to improving the existing ordinance. “It has been an example of a commission doing right and doing good, so thank you,” Taylor said at Monday’s meeting. “These changes, I believe, reflect Ann Arbor’s values of openness and tolerance and will constitute a great step forward for us.” Councilmember Sumi Kailasapathy (D–Ward 1), the Council’s liaison on the city’s

Human Rights Commission, said the commission was motivated to revise the existing ordinance because of a technical flaw. The city’s original NonDiscrimination Ordinance was passed in 1972 and later became one of the first in the state to include protections for sexual orientation and gender expression. The original ordinance also provided for a city director of human rights to oversee human rights investigations, but such a position doesn’t currently exist. The commission wanted to clarify the language so future investigations can be managed more efficiently. The new ordinance states that the Human Rights Commission is responsible for overseeing these investigations. Ann Arbor’s ordinance is now more comprehensive than similar legislation in Berkeley, Calif., Boulder, Colo. and Austin, Texas. The ordinances in these college towns afford protections for race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age and ancestry. However, they do not include provisions for survivors of domestic violence, members of the military, an individual’s political beliefs or arrest record, and do not differentiate between gender identity and gender expression. See ORDINANCE, Page 3

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